Three Stories, Three Continents and a Whole Lot of Fun

We've completed three out of seven stories from our series "Around the World in 7 Stories". We conceived the theme purely out of our lack of interest in Geography. We realized that if we were to create a story series around Geography, it would mean that we read through the subject force ourselves to think of how it can be put forth in an interesting manner to children. Today, three stories later, we are quite happy with our work, and so are the children.

We've completed three continents so far - North America, Asia and Africa. We began our preparations by creating a plan for all seven continents. In the plan we decided what aspect of Geography we should cover. We decided to stick to providing basic facts about each continent - number of countries, landmarks, languages and unique facts.

The next step was to find interesting stories. We spent many week reading as many as stories as we could. And then the stories were remixed and tailored into our version so that they could revolve around a continent. It wasn't easy in the beginning, but slowly we got the hang of it.

We decided to use the laptop (technology) as a supporting tool during our storytelling sessions. The laptop is used to show pictures of continent and countries, and is not used to display a slide show of the images from the story, because we want to leave the "imagination" part to the children.

Children who have attended the three stories know the location of all seven continents. They know names of animals that are unique to North America, they followed a trail in Asia and learnt about volcanoes of Japan, inventions from China and facts about Sri Lanka and Israel, and finally they know about the unique creatures living in the Madagascar Island of Africa and the number of languages people speak in Africa. And all this they learnt through a story!

It has been a fun experience so far, and we our now busy working on the stories for the remaining four continents.

So if you'd like your kids to learn some unique facts about continents, or if you'd like to revise your Geography knowledge, then come attend our storytelling sessions. We'd love to travel the world with you!

Check our our storytelling schedule @ http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.301978406550596.71051.238449639570140&type=3

What We Learnt from The Three Little Pigs

Last Sunday, I read the classic story "The Three Little Pigs" to my 3-year old. After we read the story, she pretended to be the big bad wolf, and went around huffing and puffing trying to blow down things. 

Watching her do that gave me an idea to extend the story into a little playtime activity. We made clay figures for the three pigs. Then, we decided to build a house for each of them. We looked around the house for material that could be used to build the houses. We zeroed down on three items - Popsicle stick house, Lego block house and a Straw (drinking straw) house.

We spent a few hours building each house and then placed the pigs inside it. Then, the little one pretended to be the big bad wolf, and huffed and puffed, and tried to blow down each house. Needless to say, the Straw house was the easiest to fall followed by the Popsicle stick house. And, the Lego block house stayed put.

The story and activity were a fantastic way to spend the Sunday afternoon. And the little one learnt some basic fundamentals of construction. Our next step will be to figure out how we can make the Popsicle and Straw houses stronger, maybe use a combination of building material.

There's no limit to how we can use a story to teach concepts. The Three Little Pigs story can also be used to teach about weather. For older children, it can be extended to learn about why people in different parts of the world construct houses differently. It could also lend itself to a math activity, where you determine the amount of sticks or blocks needed to construct a small or big house.

So, the next time you want to teach your child some concepts, read them a story and extend it into an activity. They will enjoy their reading and activity time and will also learn concepts incidentally.

Around the World in 7 Stories

We've been busy preparing for our summer storytelling sessions - Around the World in 7 Stories, and hence we haven't been able to post any blogs in the past few weeks.

It has been a fun experience preparing for the storytelling sessions, and we have also managed to update our own geography knowledge :).

The storytelling sessions start from 18th April 2012.

We'll begin each storytelling session with a song about the 7 continents. Then, we'll pick one continent and walk children through the famous places in it. Through our visual-walk, we'll tell them some amazing facts about the continent and give some information about the land forms and wildlife in the continent. We'll then lead them into an enchanting story from the continent.

At the end of the session, the children will do a craft activity and make a souvenir related to the story or the continent.

Did we mention, we are giving away passports to the children too? Each time they visit a continent, they get a stamp in their passport.

So, if you'd like your children to take a trip around the world, come visit us at the Landmark Book Stores in Mumbai.

• Every Wednesday, 4pm-5pm at Landmark Book Store, Inorbit Mall, Vashi
• Every Thursday, 4pm-5pm at Landmark Book Store, Infiniti Mall, Andheri (W)

We hope to see you there!

Mythological Tales with a Twist

We have all grown up listening to mythological stories and watching episodes and these day cartoon shows about them. So one is never too inclined to pick up a mythological story book. But, what if there was a book that created new funny short stories from the large epic, and the short stories bound back to the epic in some way. Wouldn't that be interesting?

I found one such book yesterday - Tail Tales (Volume 1) by Hema Vaidyanathan. It's a small story book with beautiful illustrations. Through the book, Hema tells us two short stories, and each is derived from the mythological epic, Ramayana. 

At first glance, I was skeptical about the book, because I assumed it would be another retell of the Ramayana story. But I was quite surprised when I flipped through the pages. Hema has beautifully taken characters out of the Ramayana and built stories around them. And the stories link back to the roles the characters played in the Ramayana. After I read both stories, my verdict was "simply fantastic!”

I read the book to my three-year old and she enjoyed the story and loved the beautiful illustrations. When she grows up and hears/reads the story of the Ramayana, she'll be able to understand how certain characters in the epic got their powers.

If you'd like to revisit epic stories and see them through a new perspective, check out http://www.ammastales.com/the-books.html.

What Makes a Green Tree go Pink?

This weekend my 3-year old and I took a nature walk in our locality. The little one noticed that the tree outside our apartment building was beginning to turn pink. Small pink flowers have sprung up and have given the otherwise green tree, a pink glow. While we walked, we observed other changes in the trees around us. And she had questions about why the trees were changing at this time of the year. I realized that this was a good time to introduce the concept of seasons. When we came home, I quickly browsed through the book cupboard and picked out story books related to seasons.

First we read The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree, a short story about a boy Arnold and his apple tree. Through the story, children observe how the Apple Tree changes throughout the year and how Arnold comes up with new play activities for each season. Then, we drew four empty blocks on a sheet of paper, one for each season (spring, summer, fall and winter). In each block we drew a picture of how the tree looks at that time of the year. Finally, we drew another picture of the apple tree and named its basic parts (roots, trunk, branch, leaf and fruits).

Then, we read another book, Spring Is Here!, a cute story about a Mole and a Bear. The story takes us through the Mole's journey of discovering that spring has arrived, and his efforts to wake up his friend Bear. The book has wonderful illustrations and sound words that make it a complete entertaining read for children.

The little one now has some understanding of seasons and spring is her favorite season (as of now). Do your little ones know about seasons? 


Check out these fun titles that introduce the science behind seasons.

• Tell Me a Season by Mary McKenna Siddals
• The Reasons for Seasons by Gail Gibbons
• Sunshine Makes the Seasons by Franklyn M. Branley

World Sparrow Day

It was World Sparrow Day yesterday (March 20). The day is celebrated to raise an awareness about the declining population of the house sparrow. We did our bit by putting up a bird feeder and a bird house for the sparrows. My three-year old was excited seeing the sparrow feeder and waited in the balcony all day for the sparrows to arrive. They haven't discovered the feeder or the house yet.


The next step was to Google sparrows, to learn about them and to understand their behavior. Read somewhere that the house sparrow is not a water bird and bathes itself in dust (didn't know that). It was interesting to find out amazing facts about the tiny little brown birds that chirp on my window in the afternoons. And, now, I can give them the"I know all about you" look.

The three-year old was disappointed at not seeing any sparrows in the balcony. So to cheer her up, I decided to read her some bird stories. We read The Perfect Nest, a funny story about a cat who builds a nest to attract a chicken, and then dreams of making yummy omelets from the eggs that the chicken lays. Things go as per plan and the chicken comes to live in the nest, but later a duck and a goose also arrive. And crazy chaos follows thereafter.

Next we picked up a picture book about birds - About Birds: A Guide for Children. The book has beautiful illustrations and simple text that introduces birds to children. Finally, we wrapped up our day by drawing some bird pictures.

Birds and other creatures always fascinate children. It's wonderful to watch them gape in awe as they realize how different these creatures are from them. 

If you want to introduce your children to the wonderful world or birds and animals, check out some of these interesting titles.

• Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
• Edward the Emu  
• Owl Babies 
• Take Along Guide Series - Caterpillar, Bugs & Butterflies, Frogs, Toads & Turtles, Snakes, Salamanders & Lizards

Visit  http://www.worldsparrowday.org/index.html to read about World Sparrow Day.

Little Curious Cats

You know how growing up toddlers always have a "But why..." question. They always want an explanation for everything that's happening around them. 

Research says that curiosity helps children explore and discover the world around them. They try out things and in their own way understand "cause and effect" - if I press the bunny's tummy it will giggle or if I turn the bottle over, the water will spill. And, when they don't understand why something happens, then they ask "Why".

A curious child is always searching for answers, which is good, because curiosity stimulates their development. Of course, after a certain point, their curiosity would lead them to try things that are not safe. This would mean that they would need constant supervision if we let them explore everything around them, and that, is not always possible. 

So, most parents tend to prevent their children from exploring things beyond a "safe environment", for the safety of the children. Also, many times children ask us "Why", and we may ourselves not know or not be sure of the answer, and won't be able to give them the information to quench their thirst. Thus, in some way, knowingly or unknowingly we become the "barrier" that prevents them from being curious.

Wouldn't it be wonderful, if there was a way to keep them curious and fed with information, while ensuring that they are safe? Is there such a way?

Yes, there is! The answer lies in books! And, I am not talking about the "Tell me Why" or "Encyclopedia" series. I am talking about story books that engage them through a story, and in the process they learn facts about the world around them.

Here are some fabulous titles to carry in your bag or keep in the car:

• Oscar Science series - There are many titles in this series. Each title tells a story about how Oscar the curious kitten explores things around him and learns science facts.
• Oscar and the Frog – A book about growing
• Oscar and the Cricket – A book about moving and rolling
• Oscar and the Bird – A book about electricity
• Let’s Read and Find Out Science series – The books in this series are ideal for 5-years and above. The books have stories and hands-on activities that children can try.
• Forces Make Things Move
• Gravity is a Mystery
• The Moon Seems to Change
• Amazing Science series – The Simple Machines titles in this series are a great way to learn Physics fundamentals. Each title describes how simple machines work and their uses.
• Tires, Spokes and Sprockets – A book about wheels and axles
• Pull, Lift and Lower – A book about pulleys
• Scoop, Seesaw and Raise – A book about levers

So, go on and give your children books that fuel their curiosity and development and watch them grow into little experts!